At Sony's Gamescom conference this week, he revealed that the PlayStation 4 has now sold 10 million consoles in less than nine months. A remarkable sales record that establishes the PS4 and the clear frontrunner in the next-gen console race.
Yet despite this, when we met with him at Gamescom, he assured us the figure could have been even higher had it not been for the stock shortages that followed the console's launch in some region
Former PlayStation boss Jim Ryan has said that the PS5 is "on track" to become SIE's "most successful console ever."
Now he wants to say good things about PS after he laid off a bunch of ppl.
Real classy Jimmy.
Is that the worst you can come up with? Because if I was criticizing Microsoft I could easily list a dozen things only one of which would be the 5000+ people they have fired from their gaming divisions in the past 16 months including everyone who worked on producing physical games.
Let me remind you that PS5 is selling faster than PS4, they just had the hit live service game Helldivers, Spider-Man is still charting, they have already released Granblue Fantasy, Rise of The Ronin, and Final Fantasy Rebirth and Stellar Blade is right around the corner, they also have Silent Hill and two Kojima games in the works. They also have all the big gatcha coming out of Japan, Korea and China lined up for their consoles, which let me remind you that Genshin and Honkai Star Rail made close to a billion dollars last month alone.
They also have PlayStation Portal which is selling as fast as they can make them, and just around the corner they have a 33.5tf console coming out which don't listen to the BS is going to be awesome and supporting it is going to be easy since every game already has two modes so "quality" mode will only need to be unlocked for PS5 Pro's and existing games will be able to easily have PSSR enabled for them.
So yeah, things are looking really good for PlayStation, and the second half of the generation is going to be huge when all the PlayStation developers start releasing their PS5 Pro Enabled games.
"Is that the worst you can come up with?"
I'm. Sorry what? Its called facts. I forgot you love Jim Ryan even if he doesn't know or care about you. None of them do. The sooner you touch grass and grow up the better.
Ok cool so what's the point of saying all that? I know all that.
@Lightning
Except it wasn’t a fact. Ryan has left PlayStation already. The layoffs that we saw with every publisher recently were after Ryan. So nice try.
"Except it wasn’t a fact. Ryan has left PlayStation already. The layoffs that we saw with every publisher recently were after Ryan. So nice try."
That was all Ryan before he left clearly. He stepped down officially a few days ago. He was doing his good byes he even took a picture with the London Studio only to shut them down days later. Don't try and shift blame or change history it was all him.
I thought the layoffs were bad. It's bad when Microsoft does it and when Phil Spenser spoke about it 99% of the comments on this site were about how Xbox sucks. When someone is commenting on how Sony layoff people, you instantly find persons that run to defend Sony. This type of behavior is not good for gaming. Remain consistent in your principles no matter who is doing the wrongdoings. Stop waving your pompoms to one side because these companies don't care about you or their employees.
Omg https://en-as-com.cdn.amppr...
Not even a few days ago just yesterday he left.
Hiroki Totoki is temporarily taking Jim's spot doing Jim's work for 7 months until he was gone April 1 . Now anymore foolish deflection from you ppl?
@divine
Layoffs are bad, but we get these guys with zero credibility, who all of a sudden want to bring up layoffs because an article says something they don’t like. All the while they never bothered when MS did more than twice the layoffs after spending 68 billion to destroy multiplatform segment of gaming. The double standard SHOULD be mentioned.
I just want to see those single player first party games.. i do not like the silence from ww studios
I'm sure you also would say the same thing about Phil Spencer to be logically consistent.
You tell us, he laid of orders of magnitude more people than Sony did, and you remained silent.
Are you guy's defending Jim Ryan just because he was part of playstation?
The guy did nothing good for the industry the entire time he was head of playstation.
It's his bad decision's that got people fired .
@Frost really now? Go find the article and look through the comments and you'll see my comment mocking MS. This isn't about MS though just the usual whataboutism from you.
But cool keep making up more stories it's in your head kiddo.
Funny to see Jim Ryan is suddenly a hero on here now.
Fun fact:
MS laid off 1900 employees from MS studios.
Sony laid off 900 employees from Sony Interactive Studios.
I hope you liked the classy MS after spending 68 BILLION on buying up the industry, then firing people.
I have PS so why would it upset. I'm not a weirdo did Jim Ryan do lay offs or not?
Because you always seem to be upset when PlayStation is going good.
And Ryan retired in September. Sony laid off 900 employees recently. Every other large publisher did as well, including MS which laid off the most developers at 1900.
For the sake of proving your objectivity, please show me any comment you made about how MS showed its class by laying off developers after spending 69 billion on cannabalizing the industry. No joke, did you make any comment like that?
It's your head wanna see fanboy in everyone else because you are one. Not how it works I'm afraid.
Ryan announced his retirement in September. He was still in office Hiroki was training under Ryan hence why we've heard from Hiroki and not Ryan. Ryan officially left yesterday.
That's means Ryan did those lay offs. For God sakes just google it since it's so hard hard for you to understand.
"Sony laid off 900 employees recently. Every other large publisher did as well, including MS which laid off the most developers at 1900."
Yeah... No duh...
Wait class? MS showed no class they were candid about the lay offs and their strategy. They said no patronizing words as far as I know.
Other than that I don't know what you're even talking about. What comments do I have?
Haha bravo! way to ignore what I said, conveniently. But, that answers my question. You need say no more.
I'm sure he was saying good things about playstation before they laid people off, not sure of your point
He lays off ppl and shut down a studio then wants to say good things about PS, not hard to understand. He was saying good things because he worked there, of course he said good things at the company he worked for.
They all do, so I don't know what you mean.
You say that like Phil didn't just give thousands of people the axe while you stood in silence. We see your hypocrisy... We know you're mad that your box just got the Dreamcast treatment, but at least try to remain objective.
Nice wrong assumption as always. You're a funny guy though.
Where I mocked MS
https://n4g.com/comments/re...
Anything else I can shut you on? You know know first hand I'm good at that
Ps5 is a turd of a console. If it outsells the ps2 Itll be the greatest paper tiger in gaming history. All pop and no fizzle.
Also Jim Ryan by the way everyone PS2 now sold 160 million total.
Still yes ps5 is a fantastic console if the games library in it's later half follows past cycles of showing off what the true hardware capabilities are we are still yet to see it's best games.
Rockstar is going to make the console sing with GTA 6.
With Xbox floundering talk of EU stores no longer stocking the games going third party fanbase is more divided than ever and Nintendo doing its own thing even delaying (rumour) switch 2 till next year PlayStation is running seemingly unopposed I'm not sure if that's a good thing but it's the reality we are in
So should you keep staff you don't need in any other business? That's called socialism.
And yet it lacks exclusive..... I remember the PS3 days when Sony was underdog and releasing exclusive after exclusive
5 exclusives this year before it’s even April/may
Ff7
Stellar blade
Hell divers 2
Granblue
Rise of ronin
Silent hill remake conning soon too + can’t wait to see what their game for Xmas is
3 years in, and PS5 has more exclusives than PS3 after the same time frame.
What ya chewing?
So again I'm baffled by the responses from this forum defending a guy's statement when Sony themselves:
A) had to cut the same % of workers as MS and had to close some studios (reason unknown for Sony since N4G established that it's not capitalism or needs to make a profit).
https://n4g.com/news/259282...
B ) mentioned in an Investor's call that the console was entering the latter half of the life cycle and was expecting a decline in sales due to missed projections.
https://www.pushsquare.com/...
But hey it's great news for Sony because if they are on track to be the most successful console ever.
So just picture what they would have achieved if they had met sales expectations and not cut jobs.
Perhaps selling twice as much as the Ps2 console?
Beating Quest3 for VR unit sold?
London Studio would be working on Blood & truth 2?
***had to cut the same % of workers as MS***
I agree they suck, but playing % game is weird.
***mentioned in an Investor's call that the console was entering the latter half of the life cycle and was expecting a decline in sales due to missed projections. ***
No no no. You don't get it. It's both! /s
Yeah, I don't understand how you can say it will be most successful unless you talk about the total revenue it brings in, which is an unfair comparison considering price increases and market reach.
*** London Studio would be working on Blood & truth 2? ***
Or, now hear me out, something actually good? :P
"I agree they suck, but playing % game is weird."
It's the metric used in business and finance to evaluate the situation of a company (health, performance, etc)
For example, stating I only cut 5 jobs from a staff of 10 is much worse than cutting 100 jobs from a staff of 1000 hence why you always see a % of the total workforce when there's a layoff.
In the case of both companies, it's around 8%, and by business practice, it's a healthy move showing that they are willing to trim due to expectations of lower sales.
I do wish that the ppl from London Studio are affected by new projects within Sony (if they are still employed) or that they are working on a new VR idea. They are talented folks who managed to create great games with the limited resources or mandates that they had.
***It's the metric used in business and finance to evaluate the situation of a company (health, performance, etc) ***
People aren't percentages to me, I guess.
1. MS laid off thousands of people, several times more than Sony did.
2. PS5 is nearly 4 years old, new consoles typically drop 6-8 years after the previous, with the previous being supported up to 10 years total. There is nothing out of the ordinary by saying PS5 is in the latter half of its generation.
3. London Studio didn't make money... so they got closed. Nothing out of the ordinary there either.
@Frosty
I'm sure you have sources other than your beliefs to demonstrate that Microsoft laid off several times more compared to Sony, especially in regards to Xbox and Playstation since we saw the same pattern here on N4G where MS announces Layoff to cheer off the community with MS can't manage jack Sh*t followed by a similar wave from Sony simply due to different date for the fiscal year.
In 2022 MS laid off 1000 jobs out of all MS (1%) In 2022 Sony announced 90 layoffs from Playstation only.
Regarding console life, I believe that you forgot a pandemic slowed everything to a crawl hence why ppl still feel that we have yet to have true PS5 and Xbox Series X experience but that's my point of view.
totally agree with you on last point regarding London Studio.
It's hard to say if it will become more successful than the PS2. I know it will do very well overall. As a gamer I can't keep up with all the stuff releasing this year
currently at 50 Million, expected to sell 22+ Million this year
there's no doubt the PS5 will be breaking some records
GTA 6 launch will also bring a massive boost to PS5 Sales and the all new 33 teraflop PS5 Professional model
i think GTA6 is gonna help the console seel a shit ton, but 160 mio iii dunno.
maybe hes talking about hoe much money it brings in due to games sold on it. who knows.
Ps5 is easily the worst console in Playstation history. It's not even close. Vita was better.
PlayStation Podcast returns with Pacific Drive and Helldivers 2 talk. And the gang says goodbye to an old friend.
I think Jim is getting positive send-off since on mostly on his watch xbox turned into a multiplatform machine.
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) President and CEO Jim Ryan has confirmed that PlayStation 2 sales reached a staggering 160 million units sold worldwide.
The soon-to-be-retired gaming boss offered an updated figure during a chat on a recent episode of the Official PlayStation Podcast. The conversation saw him covering his time at Sony while talking about the company’s direction for the future.
When asked about what the 2000s brought to mind, Ryan responded with, “The 2000s? That would be, I would say, 160 million, which is the number of PS2s that we sold. A high watermark.”
The ps2/ps3 era so many dam good games and then you got the online im sure i am not the only one with a ps2 network disc that still works and the modem/lan deal for the ps2.
Great consoles all around
The same moron Ryan doesn't understand that great games not gaas is the reason why PS2 was so successful
Ryan took charge in 2018 sense then we got the gutted ps4 update that killed simple coms 2 of the main studios dead went from multiple new exclusives on ps4 to the ps5 ghost town.
Crossplay that killed competitive gaming and just simple controller vs controller
Gaas crap like you said
Ps4 ip's just dead
hey were is my ps move support eye toy or even the ps vr support ryan?
The ps vita 2 rip
The horrible ps5 user interface
Sony push into making there games for everyone moved hq to cali now all esg
There psn chat being monitored by ai can not say/share anything now eyes are watching you
That is just the top of my head its just not the games ryan failed to understand under his leadership he killed alot of what made playstation.
PS2 was one of the best generations ever if not the best. Imo much better than PS3 gen though there were some great games during the PS3 gen it started out a little slow and finished strong
Imo the classic consoles stopped with PS3. Now it's just copy and paste games, online, gaas and dlc's. This is why I really like FF7 Rebirth. Feels like a classic game.
PS3 is my favorite PS console ever, followed closely by PS1.
PS2 was amazing but i haven’t been gaming much that gen.. too busy with schooling and stuff..
PS4 was just copy paste of PS3, like Shane said. Other than bloodborne and VR i didn’t feel there was something truly incredible and worth remembering last gen for.
I pray that my PS2/PS3 never dies, I have so many good games trapped on them, I know one out of two of my PS2s have died (I was considering opening it up and having a lot inside).
I had my launch xbox die it was the power supply i never knew until i got a new one and after the fact opened my old one that the power supply could be replaced with a few cables :(. You never know it could be a simple ribbon cable
@Just_looken,
Hopefully it's something simple, it still powers on, just doesn't output picture/video or sound.
The game library of the PS2 speaks for itself. These sales are absolutely well deserved. PS2 is still arguably the best game console of all time.
Game library and the features third console to have online mp but it became mainstream thanks to ps2/xbox then you got that sweet dvd player and the console size got so tiny. Singstar/eye toy the portable version oh also that component cable output then the whole sp game after months getting somewhat boring well gameshark it woot woot
I did main my PS2 as a DVD player when I wasn't playing games, good times.
I just wish the video quality was better on the system since I've got so many classics for it. Yes, it can go all the way up to 1080i for certain games, but even today it's hard to get the right cables and the right calibration to make things look great compared to the Xbox or GC
If you can there hard 2 find but launch ps3 consoles with backwards compatibility are great for replaying ps2 games.
I plug my PS2 into my AVR, but that seems to be more complicated that I would have expected, maybe I can find a component to HDMI converter at some point.
While I would always consider the OG XBOX as the best system during that generation - some of the games were truly next gen. So much so that the graphics actually affected the gameplay and game design - I still love the PS2. Still, it's clearly obvious that we are beyond spoiled now a days. Where the most middle of the road game has better controls and gameplay that half the PS2 library. Ditto for the Indie scene.
The reality is that the PS4 is the greatest console of all times by a country mile and the PS4/Switch/WiiU/Xbone generation is the greatest gen ever. Not even close. The PS4 physical library is almost ludicrous at this point. Then you add the digital library and there was never a comparison.
@Skuletor - Neither is yours, bud. Still, I never claimed it to be my opinion, it was just an observation based on the quality of titles released for the console. From compilation of classics, to re-releases of classic, to its own unique library of physical and digital games released throughout the 10 years of its existence. All of it counting toward making the PS4 the best console ever released.
If you don't agree then you're more than welcome to chime in with something a bit more substantial. Otherwise, why bother?
I get where you are coming from. For me I enjoyed the Dreamcast the most that gen and seeing PS2 Vs DC games now I kind of know why with the output being better on the DC. I also owned a Xbox, GameCube and PS2 but the PS2 was my least used console that gan.
I was surprised at the time as I played my psx alot more than my Saturn and N64 I have found each gen my preference has changed. Just like the Xbox one, PS4 and WiiU gen I played more of the WiiU than the other two.
I'm fully off consoles at the moment and own a Rog Ally with a 3080 that I connect it to when docked and I've really enjoyed this console alot more than I thought I would.
That said the sales of the PS2 is impressive and I can see why people like it so much but just like anything in life some of us prefer other things to what is popular.
Just like I've never owned an apple product as they are just not for me.
@mcstorm - I'm pretty much the same way. My favorite consoles are the OG Xbox, the PS1, and the Sega CD with all 5 games. Then it's the PS4. So I'm not even saying this as a number one fan or anything like that.
As you said, some prefer the popular system, and that's fine, I don't see anything wrong with that. I think the problem lies when they make their taste the holy grail of anything. In the case of the PS2, the system was absolutely amazing, and I never even imply otherwise. Some legendary series were either born or expanded on that system, no doubt about it. But I think, when you step back and look at the experiences and games and franchises released for each of the systems, the PS4 is simply at a ludicrous place. And I do believe, only when looking back, people will come to realize this.
People do forget that back in those days, there were actually less games coming out. The gaming droughts were absolutely real and brutal. If there was nothing coming out, then there was literally nothing coming out. Now? There is never really a drought. When people say nothing is coming out, they mostly refer to AAA and popular games, but if you keep your eyes on the industry, you know that a plethora of great games come out on a monthly basis. From AA to Indy games. There's always something coming out and a lot of it is pretty good.
And that's probably the problem. When there is so much good stuff coming out, nothing in particular stands out. So it does seem like no legendary games are being released compared to the PS2. But there are and you just have to look for them, sadly. Especially when a lot of these games are only coming out digitally, so they become even more obscure and difficult to reach. Like I said, in 20 years, people will look back at the PS4 library and be in complete astonishment as to how they miss most of it.
As somebody that collected for the XBOX, PS2 and mainly the PS1, I can tell you there are so many hidden gems in those systems, it's pretty surprising. And as somebody that tried to collect for the PS4? I gave up. I can't really keep up anymore. It's too much. Too many great games coming out that are worthy of having in the collection, but between digital, limited runs, European and Japanese only releases, things got way out of hands a few years ago.
I would love to see a complete collection of the system. I think it'll put stuff in perspective for some.
So odd that the number is suddenly higher than previously thought right as the Switch is closing in on the long standing record.
I mean I hear what you’re saying, he did just round up by 2 million, but that doesn’t mean he’s lying either, maybe just updating the official number. The Switch still has 15 million to go to beat the Nintendo DS and another 5 million (approx) to beat the PS2… and it’s in its 7th year now. Also, if it does end up surpassing the PS2 will it hold that record for another 20 years like PS2 did?
A massive success for any of the big 3 is good for everyone, it drives the competition and should be celebrated across the board in my opinion. It makes everyone notice and adapt to the winning formula which is good for all of us. I love my Switch, it’s the first Nintendo system I have owned since GameCube, but they all have their strengths and I love my PlayStation and I have had all of them. Sony caters to my preferences in gaming more than the others. But that’s me.
Fanboys are so odd, what a weird thing to flex. Hey guess what, Microsoft has sold 600 million copies of Windows 7, mic drop?🤷♂️
Whatever your hinting at is stupid; most people assumed ps2 was above 160 million because of the time between last sales report and last console manufactured. Switch is handheld, it will always be competing in that space. Ps2 had a smaller industry as well. Unless you think it would succeed without being a portable? Wii u 2?
IKR, all Nintendo did was they finally made more powerful Wii U portable and that's plays into their strength.
And it doesn't take much to make something more powerful than Wii U even back then.
It would have been a lot lower in sales if it wasn't a Hybrid console.
PS2 was able to do that huge numbers with much smaller industry and without the help of social media and easy access to cheap fast internet.
Never underestimate the trickle of sales of old hardware. I’m glad that Sony keeps old hardware (and games for the old hardware) on the market after the new hardware releases.
The PS2 had a phenomenal library of games for every genre. It’s unfortunate we’re never going to witness something like that again.
Too think all those ip's sony just burred out back or tossed to companies like activision on the cheap what a waist.
Its more of how long it takes for games to come out due to dev cycles. Think how fast sequels came out like gta 3-san andreas, god of war 1,2. Battlefront...
@mkis007,
I really don't know why more big budget studios don't do some AA titles in between bigger titles, not everything needs to be a AAA game with huge cinematic and photo realistic graphics.
Of course we won’t get as many games. It takes 2-3x longer and more money to make a game than it did back then.
So he just came up with this fact all these years later??? I wonder if it has to do with the Switch closing in on the PS2 lifetime sales? How convenient.
Could be but that’s a big 5 million stretch. Especially after all these years we were told different
could you please NOT pretend like you know better than the CEO of said company 💀
@TheCaptianKuchilki
I do doubt the narrative and Jim has lied before even going as far a lying to the FTC. Heck, he went and visited the London studio and didn’t hint that in two days they all would lose their jobs. While he may be quite sincere and honest about the numbers, something he could have rectified years ago. The timing and his past behavior makes it highly suspicious. So I do question the validity of his statement.
You people are smoking some bad reefer with this conspiracy stuff. This is not the first time this was known, just the first time it is official. They could care less abou home console 2000's vs portable console 2010's...they are not invested in the school yard bs like you or me.
@rlow1, it's you that are making a big deal about it. Why would he lie, becuase he's worried the switch will pass that total? Lol. Don't confuse the console war conversations we have on n4g with Ryan's statements on anything playstation. He was with playstation from the start and was apart of their climb to success. He would have the exact number.
The Switch still has a chance to tie it, or barely get the top spot, time will tell. 😎
When you take inflation into account PS2 was a much more expensive console than Switch in its days and for good reason, modders knew how forward thinking its design was being the easiest to mod and everything.
Sorry, if it wasn't for its Hybrid appeal Switch won't even be able sniff PS2's numbers.
PS2 records are still much more impressive than Switch as Nintendo have basically no competition for years while PS2 was fighting itself being the oldest and the likes of Dreamcast GameCube and OG Xbox and almost singlehandedly starts the second half of the golden age of video games and also popularize the DVD format.
It was the unstoppable loss leader monster.
DVD format was out for few years and still way too expensive for most to afford then PS2 comes along and changed that.
So many of my favourite games were on PS2, God of War II, Burnout 3: Takedown, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, GTA: San Andreas, Tekken 5, Def Jam: Fight for NY and more.
Plus it was nice getting complete games on disc and more games had split screen, which mostly disappeared in the next generation.
Ha splitscreen remember when they did the mcc collection they were all we cant do that on xbox one because of tech limits such a dam joke even today the recent battlefront collection has worse split screen than the ps2 version.
Grab that boomerang controllers 200 pound tv dam good times
What's Sony needs nowadays are Visionary forward thinkers like Ken Kutaragi.
Mark Cerny is a genius but often can make too much sense in a way he designed both consoles.
Everything nowadays being standardized to hell kind of barred the likes of Kutaragi out of the industry though which is sad as I don't want another PC or streaming box with PlayStation logo on it, they need something unique and off the wall to give them advantage again like in PS2 PS3 days, okay maybe not to the extent of PS3 hardware wise but at least 25% to 50% of that console.
Notice that both of those consoles have long legs and longevity that PS5 doesn't have because almost everything are at the mercy of standardized PC hardware, we need something cool and exotic again.
Make that happen magic again Sony.
What??? PS3 was terrible to develop, port or optimize. Also expensive as hell due to research and development.
What Sony needs to do is stand the line against PC ports.
These games are getting torrented to hell just to bring new audiences to PS5 sequels.
But these sequels are not so great are they.
We need new exclusive IPs.
Read carefully, I don't want another PS3 situation but parts of its hardware being different enough that their 1st party devs can take advantage of it first and still have the edge in the later years.
I agreed with you that we needed something new from their 1st party studios and it doesn't have to be big budget AAA stuff.
Legendary console the PS2 with the Dreamcast, GameCube and Xbox for that generation. The fact that it played DVDs and PS1 games was a massive selling point. Tekken Tag Tournament was the first game I played on PS2 and is still the best Tekken in my eyes. The PS2 was Sony's best console.
It’s really hard for me to pick between PS1 and PS2. Both had amazing libraries. PS2 games have aged a good amount better obviously but there are still games I play like Suikoden 1&2 , Vagrant Story, many games like that.
N64 playing Mario world proper 3d
(Although sonic on the 32cd technically had a pseudo 3d) Mario came with the analogue stick
Then yes Dreamcast just had fantastic games that were just fun
I hate Jim Ryan mostly for one thing.
Killing Days Gone 2. What makes it even worse, he forced Bend studio to develop a live service game. So instead of developing a sequel to Days Gone 2 or a similar open world new IP game, we will be getting a live service game.
It's crazy that the PS2 has held the crown for so long, and could potentially hold it for the foreseeable future Depending on when the Switch 2 drops. That console was truly goated.
Good interview. Title comes off as arrogant though and is not what he said.
With the number of units the PS4 has already sold, it will be interesting to see how that works vs. directly giving money to game developers for exclusivity or timed exclusivity.
While I believe your hardware should speak for itself and tantalize developers to want to work on it exclusively, when you need to make up ground in business I guess the rules are not that cut and dry.
Interesting comment overall.
This is an edit:
TERRIBLE HEADLINE FOR THIS INTERVIEW. TERRIBLE. The remark wasn't as bad as the headline suggests.
Yeah that "partnership"with Activision for Destiny timed exclusive content , how much did that cost you Sony?